**As of December 2017**

The following is an overview of New Canaan Baseball’s Cal Ripken (12 yrs old and younger) travel baseball programs. Program offerings and policies may change over time as determined by the NCBB Board, and NCBB may deviate from these policies for unique or extraordinary circumstances (e.g. disciplinary reasons, safety issues, relocation, etc.).

New Canaan Rams Select
Spring Travel

New CanaanSummer "All-Stars"

New CanaanSummer Travel**

8U*

TBD

9yr old

9yr old

TBD

10yr old

10yr old

TBD

11yr old

11yr old

TBD

12yr old

12yr old

TBD

* The 8u spring program is less of a true travel team and more of a supplemental program for stronger 8-year-olds and 7-year-olds that are in 2nd grade.

** In the past, New Canaan has had anywhere from 2-6 summer travel teams (in addition to the “All-Star” teams). The number of teams offered at various ages will be dependent on the number of registrations.

Rams Select Spring Travel Program

Description: The spring travel program is for New Canaan youth baseball players seeking additional baseball in the Spring at a higher level of competition that is likely to be experienced in the New Canaan house league. The Spring travel program is intended to complement the New Canaan House league spring program, enabling players to make both House and NC Rams Select games/practices. All Spring travel players age 12 and under MUST play in the New Canaan house league as well. The requirement to play house league goes away after Majors (age 13).

The season runs from April through Memorial Day weekend in May and will include approximately 12-16 games including 1-2 tournaments and at least one practice per week.

(Note: the “8u” team will have a less demanding schedule with fewer games, and workouts with a greater focus on player development. Practices will be professionally coached, while games will be parent coached.)

Team Selection Process: Teams will be selected based on a structured approach which strives to ensure the integrity of the team selection process. There will be a tryout event administered by independent evaluators (typically instructors from a local baseball academy). Players will be evaluated on how they perform in a number of skills including hitting, pitching, fielding and running.

The independent group administering the tryouts will provide New Canaan Baseball recommendations for team selection. These recommendations will then be considered by a steering committee of NC baseball coaches and board members who will make the final team selections.

Coaches: The Head Coach will be a professional baseball coach, likely from a local private baseball instructional facility. Assistant coaches will likely be parent volunteers approved by NCBB.

Summer All-Star Program

Description: The Summer All-Star program is comprised of the 9, 10, 11 and 12-year-old New Canaan “All-Star” teams which will represent New Canaan in the Cal Ripken League District tournaments (and State, Regional and National tournaments if they qualify). The Summer All-Star program is targeting the best New Canaan baseball players for each age group and those players willing and able to make a substantial time commitment to the team from June 1 through at least mid/late July and possibly into early August (dependent on how far the team goes in the Cal Ripken League tournaments).

In addition to the Cal Ripken League tournaments, the Summer All-Star teams may play games in other leagues as determined by the NCBB co-Heads of Select.

Summer All-Star Team Selection Process:

1) Player Ranking: A player ranking process will determine the top 15 players from a given eligible universe of players by a voting group. (see below for Player Ranking Process details)

2) First 9 Roster Spots: The first 9 roster spots will be determined by a straight numerical ranking from the Player Ranking Process.

3) Coach Selection: After the first 9 roster spots have been determined, NCBB will endeavor to identify the team’s Head Coach from among the parents of the initial 9 players from Step 2. (see below for Coach Selection Process details)

4) Final Committee Vote: The final 3 roster spots will be determined by a vote from a committee with relevant insight into the players (typically a smaller subset of the initial voting group) and will include the head coach if that person has been determined from Step 3 above.

a. Candidates for the final three roster spots can only come from players ranked in the Top 15 from the Player Ranking Process

b. The final three roster spots will be determined following a committee discussion and may take into consideration subjective factors such as specific position needs, attitude, and sportsmanship. The eligible players will be voted on by the committee to determine the final 3 roster spots

Player Ranking Process

1) The voting group will consist of individuals with relevant insight into the respective age group and will be appointed by NCBB co-Heads of Select and co-Presidents. At least one coach from the applicable house league division’s teams will be part of the voting group.

2) The voting group will submit a rank ordering of players 1-15

3) The voting group will be instructed to consider the body of work and not just current year house league performance or draft order.

4) Voters will exclude their own child from their ranking; the ranking of their child from all the other voters will be averaged and will be given that rank in that voter’s ballot.

Coach Selection Process

1) The NCBB co-Heads of Select will consider comments/thoughts from some of the parents of the first 9 players selected

2) The NCBB co-Heads of Select will solicit interest from potential coaches to see who the possible coaching candidates are and whether they are interested in Head Coach or Assistant Coach role.

3) The NCBB co-Heads of Select in consultation with at least 2 other Board members will select coaches based on a range of factors (feedback, baseball resume, coaching experience, style/demeanor, time commitment/availability, past body of work)

New Canaan Rams Select and All-Star Play-Up Policy

New Canaan Baseball no longer allows play-ups in either the Spring Travel or Summer All-Star programs. Players are required to play with their age group as determined by the Cal Ripken baseball age chart (the player’s age as of April 30th of that year). There are a small number of players, whose eligibility (to play up) has been grandfathered by the league's previous policy.